WED AND BURIED: A Laura Fleming Mystery

The Southern milieu with its friendly warmth and innumerable relatives belies the hatred and tensions smoldering beneath the surface in Kelner's eighth airy Laura Fleming cozy (after 2001's Mad as the Dickens). More snoop than sleuth, Laura goes home to Byerly, N.C., with her Yankee professor husband and six-month-old baby, to celebrate her Aunt Maggie's marriage to Big Bill Walters, the local tycoon. Soon, however, she gets involved trying to figure out who's sent Big Bill threatening letters and made three clumsy attempts on his life. The characters speak with enough "y'alls" to give credence to the setting but not irritate the reader. Good humor abounds amid the murder and mayhem in this sprawling family. (Feb. 11)